Automatic awning



Dec. 28, 1937. "o. VOGEL AUTOMATIC AWNING 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledApril '7.

Q INVENTOR I Dec. 28, 1937.

O. VOGEL AUTOMATIC AWNING Filed April '7'. 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR I I'l Patented Dec. 28, 1937 UNITED STATES AUTOMATIC AWNINGOttoVogel, Farmingdale, N. Y. 'Application April 7, 1936, Serial No.73,076

9 Claims. 7 (Cl. 156-44) means, operable by a very small amount ofrainwater, to close an, open window or other aperture with an awningguard and thus prevent damage to the interior by rain-water.

, A still further object is to provide an automatic awning which, underordinary conditions, will operate for long periods of time without anyattentionv whatsoever.

A still further object is to pro vide an automatic awning the return ofwhich to its normal nonprotecting position occurs when rain ceases tofall.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent as thespecification proceeds.

With the foregoing objects in view, my invention consists of the novelcombination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described in theirpreferredembodiments, particularly pointed out in the appended claims,and illustrated in the ,accompanying drawings, wherein like parts aredesignated by the same reference characters throughout the severalviews. I I,

In the said drawings;

Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly in section and partly broken away,showing the mechanism for operating my improved automatic awning;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional detail view of one of the side channelmembers showing the construction thereof; t

Fig.3 is a side elevation, partly in section and partly broken away,showing the awning rolledp;

awning lowered and disclosing certainparts obsoured by those shown inFig. 3; and,

Fig. 5 is a detail view of 'themeans for arresting automatic operationof the awning.

Referring to these drawings, my invention comprises a horizontallydisposed housing II the removable top of which constitutes a gutter l2,having in its bottom and near one end thereofan outlet I3, closed by ahinged stopper M, on which latter is formed an integral lever arm I4, to

which is attached a cord I5. Formed in the bottom of the gutter 12 areone or more outlets l6, spaced from the outlet I3 and from each other,which are normally closed by combination ball- Fig. 4 is a similar sideelevation showing the float stoppers llseating in said outlets l6 and 1adapted to float upward with a rise of level of rain-water in saidgutter thus permitting such water to flow through said outlets Hi. Thestoppers I! may be made of cork, balsa wood, or other naturally buoyantmaterial, and are restricted in their upward movement by attacheddepending I shanks I8 having split ends bent in opposite directions atright-angles to said shank which serve to retain said stoppers in theirrespective outlets.

' Disposed under and spaced from the gutter l2 and constituting thebottomand part. of the front wall of the housing 1 l, isa reservoir ortank I9 of rectangular shape having in its bottom an out let 20, closedby a ball stopper 2| and an overflow pipe 22 adjacentthe top of its rearwall. The

ends of the tank 19 are also spaced from the opposlte end walls andfrom' the rear outer wall of said housing ll (Figs; 3 ]and 4),. v

The upper ends of a pair of vertical. channelmembers 23' (only oneofwhich is shown) fit into the underside of the housing ll, one at eachside and to the rear thereof, and are fastened as by screws, to theopposite sides ofthe window casing (see Fig. 2) or other aperture towhich the device may be afiixed,.while. the housing is hung, as by hooks24 fixed to its outside rear wall, on the upper and outer horizontalface of said casing.

Within the housing It and aboyethe tank I!) to'the rear thereof ismounted a roller 25 having pulleys 26 keyed thereto at each'end (onlyone of which is shown), said roller being pivoted in bearings fixed tothe opposite side walls of the housing ll. Cords 21. fixed at one end toand wound on said pulleys 26 run over guide pulleys 26 and at their freeends are attached to weights 28 adapted to travel in shafts formed bysaid channel members 23. f

An awning 29 made of any flexible material is fixed to and rolls onth'eroller 25, being adapted to unroll from the rear of said roller,while the cords 21 are oppositely wound onsaid pulleys 2B. Pulley 26,cord 21, and weight 28 on the righthand end of roller 25identical withthose shown. *and therefore not duplicated in the draWingsmouth 3! whichtank 36 may be made of metal "or any other suitable material imperviouto water, and has formed in its bottom one or more drip-outlets 32controlled by weighted ball stoppers 33 having depending therefromshanks 34 terminating in small ball weights 35. Upon the rear surface ofsaid pocket at opposite sides are fixed hinged arms 35 whichfoldinwardly toward the center thereof and fasten one to the other whennot in use.

The sides of the awning 29 run in grooves 31 formed by the channelmembers 23- and at the lower portion extending out from each side of thepocket 30 tothe edges thereof said'curtain is reinforced by a flange 30'of sheet metal or other I stiff material. A roller 38 pivoted at itsopposite ends in bearings fixed on the inner side walls of the housing Hserves to guide the awning 29 in the rear of the tank l9 and to alignthe side edges of the awning with the grooves 31'.

A bracket 39 spans the tank 19 fromfront to rear at the top thereof.Centrally disposed on said bracket 39 is fixed an upright member 40having upwardly and outwardly extending inte gral arms 4| in the crotchof which, by means of a horizontal pin -42, is mounted a hollow tube 43having opposite sealed ends 44. Contained within said tube 43 is a ballweight 45, the'travel of which is restricted between the sealedleft-hand end" of said tube and the central pin' 42. The right-hand end44 of the tube carries a bracket :46 in which rides the upper end of alink 41 which, guided by a guide-bracket 4'! fixed to the inside frontwall of the tank is rigidly attached at its lower end to a ball stopper2|. In its normal position", when the ball stopper 2| is seated in theoutlet 20' of the tank l9 closing the feed pipe M, the tube is inhorizontal balance, while the ball rests against the pin 42. At theextreme lefthand end on the upper surface of the tube 43 is fixed a dish48 which is also aligned directly below the outlet I 3 in the gutterI2',;,and which dish has formed therein one or more restricteddrip-outlets 4.9; As will be clear from the'fore going description, thetube 43 is adapted to pivot on the pin 42 .while the ball 45 rollstoward and weighs down the left end thereof, as a consequence liftingthe right hand end which carries the link 41 and ball stopper 2| upward.To restore the tube to its original horizontal position, a verticallever 50 slidable in guides 5l'fixed on the outer end .of the tankis'provi'de'd, said lever 50 having an upper-forwardly-extendingintegral arm 52, theiupper surface of which is disposed under the leftend of the tube 43, and a lower, rearwardly-extending"arm 53 having adownwardly turned foot projecting into the shaft 59 in the channelmember 23 and into the path of V the weight 28, which latter intravelling upward contacts with said foot and raises said lever 55 whichin turn lifts the tube 43, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. .3, to itsnormal horizontal position, which also causes the ball 45 to roll to theright and settle against the pin.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, the cord 21 is fixed to pulley 2B at aprescribed distance from itssaid fixed end, as at 21'', on said cord isfixed a bead or knot'54. The cord 15 is attached at one end to the leverarm [4; its opposite end terminates in pulling cord I5, lifting thehinged stopper l4 and 7 thus opening the outlet E3 in the gutter I2. 7

Referring to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the particular construction of theupright channel members 23 is as follows: said members are first bentlongitudinally to an L-shape to formoan angle member 55 one side ofwhich is bored to allow of fastening same as by screws to the windowcasing as above described; the member 23 is next bent from the L-shapeback upon itself to fit the corner and lie against the front face of thecasement, forming a portionBEi which in turn is bent at right anglesfrom the plane thereof and formed with spaced vertical knuckles"; 51.,Knuckles 58 are formed upon a separatezch'annelainember which is bentlongitudinally to fornr the four sides of the shaft '59, said knuckles51 and 58 when fitted together and secured: by the usual hinge pin forma vertical piano hinge 50 which permits of the shafts 59 beingswungoutward so that the awning 28 may be pushed out of its'groove andutilized as an awning when secured by the arms 35 to the usualfastenings (not'shown) at the sides of the window casing. I To permit ofthis outward movement of the channel members forming the shafts 53 onthe hingestheiipper faces'of said members'are cut away as at 23-,so thatthe cord 2'! will not bind'betweenthe upper edges thereof and the bottomedge of housing! I.

To cause the device to remain inoperative, itis merely necessary toprevent the weight 28 from reaching the bottom of'its shaft 59, so thatthe bead 54 may not. pull f'eord 15 to openoutlet l3:the-left-handchannel Z3 is cut away at its bottom as at 23 to permi-t'oftherise' 'of the end of a pivotedrocker-a'rin- 'which attends theclosing of the window sas'li -BB; or which may be manually controlled,an-d'which arm 65 prevents the weight 28'from reaching the bottom ofsaid shaft 59','as shown merge; 1 7

'Metal strips 52 formed *with'top and bottom flanges fastenedasbyscrewstdthe casing may be used to clamp a window screen 63 against theportion 58 of the channel members 23.

A screen or sievefi l' extending from side to side may befixed over theoutlets in the gutter I2 (shown'in Figs. 3 and l) to protect same fromstoppage :b'y leaves; etc. I The operation of inf invention is asfollows: The; tank l9 must contain some water. The awning 29is rolled upon the roller 25 the weights 28 arefjat the bottornof their respectiveshafts,

the tube 43 ishorizontal with the ball 45 resting against pin 42, while'thebead '54 on cord 27 pulls down the cord l5, lever' 14"" and thus theoutlet {3 in the gutter l2 isopen. As it starts to rain, water fallin'gin to the gutter runs through the-open'outlet l3 and into dish 48 on thetube 43} whereupon said tube is thrown out of balance and the ball 45 isstarted to roll toward the lefthand sealed end 44 of thetube, thusraising the opposite end'thereof'which in turn carries upward link 47and ball-stopper 2! and opens outlet 20 of the tank Hi, from which waterrapidly pours'through pipe'Sl the. downwardly curved spout of whichisdisposedover the pocket 30 on the awning29fi- Said pocket 30' quicklybecomes sufiiciently heavy with such water to outbalance the weights 28and the awning descends to protect" the window. 'When the pocket 3f!reaches and cdntacts with the window sill the stoppers 33, seated inoutlets 3 2 in the bottom of. said pocket,;are forced upward openingsaid outlets and allo-wing'water to, drip slowly therefrom. As long asitrains, water running down the awning and from'the overflow pipe 22 ofthe tank 59 replenishes the water'in the pocket 30 and thea'wn'ing willremain lowered. When the rain ceases, the rain water in the pocket 3!]continuing to drip there-frm, said pocket again becomes lighterthan the-weights28'which in'turn I loop I5 and opens the outlet I3.

When pockettii reaches the window sill the left-hand-weight '28 inattaining its highest position pushes lever 50 upward, which in'turnraises tube 43 and rolls ball 45 to their normal positions, closingtheoutlet 20.- Immediately the weight starts. upward the bead 54 breaksits contactfwith loop l5" and under the influence of gravity thestopperseats'in the outlet 13 preventing actuation of'thedevice. Withoutlet l3 c1osed,'as rain continues to fall the rising level of water ingutter l2 raises ball-float stoppers I! which are normally seated andthe: tank I9 is thereby replenished with water running through inletsit. Because of the-apertures in the dish member :8 the water caughttherein drains out after having served its purpose in initiating thedownward movement of the. tube.

The amount of water necessary to operate my novel awning is quicklyreplaced during a rainstorm; the capacity of the-tank 19 as shown iscalculated to provide for from 12 to 15 actuations of the awning withoutany replenishing by rain or otherwise. It is of course understood thatthe tank It may be replenished by a special pipe connection with themain gutter from the roof of the house.

Although the drawings and the above specification disclose the best modein which I have contemplated embodying my invention, I desire to be inno way limited to the details of such disclosure for, in. the furtherpractical application of my invention, many changes in theconstructional details of the device may be made as circumstancesrequire or experience suggests, without departing from the spirit of theinvention within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A window guard in combination comprising a roller awning mounted in ahousing, a receptacle attached to said awning having'a plurality of dripoutlets therein, counterweight means adapted to outbalance said awningand receptacle, a reservoir for water mounted in'said housing,rain-actuated means for filling said receptacle from said reservoir,means mounted in said housing and controlled by said counterweight meansfor rendering the rain-actuated means inoperative, means actuated bysaid counterweight means to reset said filling means and to shut offthewater supply from. said reservoir.

2. A window guard comprising a roller awning of flexible materialpivotally mounted in. a housing, cord-attached counter-weights connectedto the roller, an open-mouthed receptacle on the lower edge of saidawning having a plurality of controlled drip outlets therein, areservoir for water, an outlet in said reservoir, rain-actuated meansfor filling said receptacle frorn said reservoir to a predeterminedlevel to outbalance said counterweights and cause, lowering of theawning, means actuated by one of said counterweights to reset saidfilling means in its normal position and to shut off the supply of waterfrom said reservoir.

3. A window guard comprising a housing, channel members communicatingtherewith, a roller mounted in said housing, an awning on said roller,

cord-attached counterweights connected to the,

roller, a flat receptacle on said awning having controlled outletstherein, flanges integral with theopposite ends of said receptacle andextending 'therefromito'the side, edges of said awning to guidethelatter in said channel members,:a reservoir for water mounted in saidhousing above said receptacle, an outlet therein, a gutter combined withsaidhousing over said reservoir hav-- ing an outlet therein, a valve insaid outlet controlled by the relative movement of one" of saidcounterweights, a sealed tube, a pin extending laterally through saidtube adjacent the center thereof for pivotally supporting the same inhorizontal position above said reservoir, a bracket on one end of saidtube, a link attached to said bracket, a stopper on said link seated insaid reservoir outlet, a ball weight free in said tube to run betweenthe said pinand the sealed end of the tube oppositetothat carrying saidbracket to outbalance said link and stopper for opening said reservoiroutlet,a dish fixed on said tube at the end opposite to that carryingsaid bracket and aligned under said gutter outlet, and drip apertures insaid dish.

4. A window guard in combination comprising a housing including a gutterforming the top thereof, a reservoir for water, an outlet in saidreservoir, a faucet leading therefrom, a roller 7 awning'mounted' in:said" housing, a receptacle 5. A window guard in combination comprisingH a housing including a gutter forming the top thereof, a reservoir forwater, an outlet in said reservoir, a faucet leading therefrom, a rollerawning mounted in said housing, a receptacle on said awning,counterweights adapted to out-. balance said awning and receptacle,rain-actuated means for controlling the filling of said receptable' fromsaid reservoir through said faucet, and a link slidably mounted on saidreservoir under said filling means and extending into the path of one ofsaid counterweights and adapted to be raised thereby to-restore saidfilling means to its normal position thereby to shut off the water fromthe reservoir.

6. A window guard in combination comprising a housing including agutterforming the top thereof, a reservoir for water, an outlet in saidreservoir, a roller awning mounted in said housing, a receptacle on saidawning, counterweights adapted to outbalance said awning and receptacle,rain-actuated means for filling said receptacle from said reservoir,means actuated by one of said counterweights to reset'said filling meansand shut off the water from said reservoir, vertical channel membersadapted to be fixed to the sides of a window-casing, communicatingthrough the bottom of said housing with the interior thereof, andconstituting shafts to receive and conceal said counterweights duringmovement thereof.

7. An automatic window guard comprising a roller awning mounted in ahousing, cord-attached counterweights connected to the roller, anopen-inouthed receptacle on said awning having a plurality of dripoutlets therein, a reservoir for water having an outlet and an overflow,a gutter combined with said housing over said reservoir, an outlet insaid gutter, a valve for said outlet, a bead on one of the counterweightcords, a loop member on said cord below'said bead, a semi-flexible linkconnecting said loop.

with said valve, said bead being adapted to contact with said loop andopen said valve when the counterweight on said 'cord is at its lowestposition and said awning is rolled up, rain-actuated means for fillingsaid receptacle from said reservoir to a predetermined level tooutbalance said counterweights and cause lowering of the awning, meansactuated by one of said counter- Weights to reset said filling means inits normal position and to shut ofi the supply of water from saidreservoir, means for replenishing said reservoir with water and causingan overflow to replenish said receptaclecontinuously during a rain.

8. An automatic window-guard of the character described comprising'ahousing, a rotatably mounted awning normally concealed therein, areceptacle on said awning for facilitating the lowering thereof, dripoutlets in said receptacle, means combined with said housing forcollecting rainwater, a reservoir for waterrcombined with said housing,means directly actuated by rain at the commencement of a showerfor'controlling the dispensing of the rainwater from said reservoir intosaid receptacle to Weight the same and cause the lowering of saidawning, means for rewinding said awning automatically'operabie atedmeans.

when the rainwater in said receptacle hassunken to a predetermined levelfollowing cessation of a shower, and a plurality of valves in saidcollecting means normally closed to prevent evapo- V ration of water insaid reservoir but opening with a rise of rain water in said collectingmeans thereby to replenish the water in saidreservoir.

9.'An automatic window-guard of the character described comprising aroller awning mounted in a housing, a; receptacle on the awning forfacilitating the-lowering thereof, a controlled drip outlet inthereceptacle, a reservoir for water combined with the housing andhaving an overflow, V rain-actuated. means for controlling thedispensing of water from the reservoir to fill the receptacle and causelowering of the awning, a gutter combinedwith'the housing for collectingrain-water, valves in said gutter adapted to open with a rise ofrain-water therein for replenishing the reservoir and causing anoverflow to keep the receptacle filled, and means, automaticallyoperable when the Watervdraining from the receptacle reaches apredetermined level, for re-. winding the awning and resetting therain-actu-

